Process for refining hydrocarbon oils by means of halogen compounds



rim- June a, 1939 j UNITED STAT OILS BY MEANS POUNDS amass moccss roa Wemaocsaaon 0F COM- Germany, and Josef Moos,

New- York. and Erich sacsebarth, Jackson Heights, N. Y., asslgnors toEdeleanu' schaft, II; b. E, aoorporation of German '80 Drawing. Originaiapplication March 22, ms, Serial No. 12,528... Divided and thisapplication October 25, 1937, Serial No. 170,!!65.

11 Glahns. This invention relates to the refining of hydro carbonmineral oils, such as petroleum oils, and oils made from coal tar andbituminous coal tar. to improve their qualities for lubrication, motorfuel, solvents and other uses, and is a division ofour application Ser.No. 12,528, filed March 22, 1935, for r for refining hydrocarbon oils bymeans of halogencompounds. For the refining ofmineral .olls, selectivesol 10 vents, mixtures of selective solvents or mixtures of'a selectivesolvent with a non-selective solvent are already known. These, solventsseparate the main. group of hydrocarbons by dissolving for examplethearomatic and'unsaturated l5 nents and leaving undissolved thesaturatedbr paramne-likegroups. Some selective solvents remove also thenaphthenes together with the arcmatics and b The hydrocarbon compoundsbelonslns -to the groups of aromatics and unsaturates and-to a certaindegree also those of the 'naphthene K, groups-are well known asnon-resistant against oxidation. They are further characterized by a lowA P.--I, gravity, low flash-and fire point, 'by 33 high carbonresidueand by an unfavorable vis- 'ty-temperature relationship. The removal ofthe mentioned classes of hydrocarbons results therefore in a greatlyimproved refined oilwhich isequaltoorinsome-instancesevenbettcr, so thanthe best mineral oils known, suchas fractions from Pennsylvania crude.Whereas frac-' tions made from Pennsylvania-chides have a satisfactoryviscoflty temperature characteristic, they show nevertheless highConradson carbon ingtoyieldafinishedoilwhichsatisfles modern demandforuse in internal combustion engines.

Our invention teaches the use' 'of selective soivents which producefinished oils of a quality superior to Pmnsylvania oils insofar as theviscosity temperature relationship of stocks of any forigin is improvedto that or above that of- Pennsylvania oils and also insofar as thecarbon residues are much lower. The extraction by means of our solventsfurther greatlyfacilitates the finishing procedure inasmuch as thesolvent. extraction rewith-theextractedfractioln.-

For reasons of simplicity we will refer in the following to the refined'oil as rafllna f and to the imdesirable or fraction as "exan object ofthis invention is to refine hydro-- carbon oils by means of selectivesolvents in order toproducestablewhicmwhen properly figuresan'd requireconsequently expensive refin mova all or most of the color bearingcompounds finished, will fulfill the most severe specifications adoptedby science for the specific products in question. I Our-selectivesolvents are adaptable to the refining of naphthas in which case asaturated fraction 'or rafinate is produced such as is frequently. usedas special solvent, for'example Stoddards Solvent; the dissolvedfraction or extractcontains the aromatic and unsaturated componentswhich have great value on account of their high .octane number. Theseextracts may either be used as motor fuel directly or as a blendingmaterlal for upgrading other gasolines of less satisfactoryspeclfications.'

Likewise our solvents are suitable for refiningfi 15 kerosenes, gasoils,transformer oils, turbine oils, the variousgrades of lubricating oildistillates',

and of residual stocks. Depending upon the stocks to be refined anddepending upon the ramnate quality desired, the solvents may be usedeither alone or in combination with auxiliary solvents. These auxiliarysolvents have to fulfill three different objects, ,namelythat of (1)increasing or (2) decreasing solvent power or that of (3) improvingthe-selectivlty of our selective solvents.

The representatives of class 1 of auxiliary solvents which increase thesolvent power are characterized by dissolving hydrocarbon oils entirelyand atthe same time bybeing miscible with the selective solvent in eachproportion. Exam-. pies of this class of auxiliary solvents are thearomatics (such as benzol toluol, xylol, etc.) hydroaromatics, such ascyclohexane, the non-selective aliphaticand aromatic halogenderivatives, the non-selective ketones, esters, ethers and others. a v lRepresentatives of class 2 of auxiliary solvents, which decrease thesolvent power of our selective solvents, are-identified by beingmiscibleywith our selectivesolvents to a'certain degree or in anyproportionand by not dissolving hydrocarbon. oilsat all or only to acertain-extent. For example, ,water and alcohols belong to this classoii auxiliary solvents. The members of class 3 of auxiliary solventswhich improve the selectivity, are characterized by dissolving thehydrocarbon oils entirely but they are not miscible in'each proportionwith selectivesolvents. This third class of auxiliary solvents willdissolve the hydrocarbon oils tobe treated and, upon adding one or moreof our selective solvents, will remain mostly in the raffinate phase,whereas the first and second group of auxiliary;- sglvents. (namelythose" which are ing respectively param'nic and nonconstituents,separating the phases from each other and recovering the solventtherefrom.

10. A method of refining a mineral oil comprising mixing the oil with1,2,3 tribromohydrin and adjusting the temperature to produce aseparation into two oil containing phases, separating the phases fromeach other and recovering the solvent therefrom.

11. A method of refining a mineral oil comrelatively paraflinic andnon-paraiiinic constltuents, separating the phases from each otherv 5and recovering the solvents therefrom.

'ERNST TERRES, 'JosEr' MOOS.

ERICH SAEGEBARTH. w

